New York City can be a dangerous place to live.
There is crime and poverty aplenty, but the latest disturbing news from The New York Times warns against drowning, as in the whole City.
The article cites data that shows the West Antarctic ice sheet is melting at an alarming rate and is projected to endanger major coastal cities much sooner than previously expected.
When it melts, the West Antarctic ice sheet, larger than Mexico, could raise the sea level 12 feet... or more. But that was then.
Previous models projecting the oceans' rising put places like NYC in danger in hundreds-- if not thousands --of years.
Of course, because, well, science, new data shows that we should be worried about being underwater closer to the year 2100.
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Due to ice melting in other regions as well, the sea level could rise five or six feet by 2100. It would only get worse after that.
Researchers estimate that the rising sea level would quicken the pace and exceed the rate of a foot per decade by the middle of the 22nd century.
“We are not saying this is definitely going to happen,” said David Pollard, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University who co-authored the new study.
“But I think we are pointing out that there’s a danger, and it should receive a lot more attention.”
What does all of this mean? It means listen to science. People hear global warming, and for some reason they hear something else entirely.
It means that solving climate change isn't some far-away threat, it's right on our doorstep... or in the City's case: on the stoop.
Check out Tips for New Yorkers Moving to Canada (from a Canadian New Yorker).
[via The New York Times] [Feature Image Courtesy Youtube]